Our Vision, Mission and Principles

CARE International Vision:

We seek a world of hope, tolerance and social justice, where poverty has been overcome and people live in dignity and security. CARE International will be a global force and partner of choice within a worldwide movement dedicated to ending poverty. We will be known everywhere for our unshakeable commitment to the dignity of people.

CARE International UK Mission:

Our mission describes CARE International UK’s purpose and specific role in delivering this vision. We are a driving force within the world-wide CARE network, recognised in the UK for:

1. Making resources available for overseas activities
2. Influencing the policies and practices of government, business and other organisations
3. Inspiring and engaging the public
4. Continuously improving the impact of our work

CARE International UK’s Strategic Plan 2008-13 address how we can create most value and impact on poverty as part of the global CARE network. Over the last few years, CARE UK, has developed a significant expertise in a number of key areas. We have examined these and the contribution we can make to help fight poverty and have identified seven focus areas and six strategic roles which will enable us to deliver most measurable impact to achieving CARE’s vision.

Our primary focus will be in the following areas, where we will continue to build on our significant expertise:

Conflict and peace building - in an increasingly turbulent world, we will provide expertise and support to our field operations working in countries in conflict, by supporting programmes spanning peace-building, reconciliation and rehabilitation.

Governance - the capacity of poor people to influence the institutions that govern their lives - is fundamental to addressing the underlying causes of poverty. Our work spans urban poverty, gender, civil society and workings of the aid system and we will continue to develop our expertise in this area.

Private Sector - multinational companies can have a major impact on poverty. We will engage with business to improve the impact of their activities on poverty and we will develop enterprising programmes that open up market opportunities for poor people.

We will also continue to work in the following key areas, following the global leadership of others within CARE:

Emergency response - with our specific contributions to humanitarian aid policy and shelter, to support CARE’s emergency response work worldwide.

Hunger and chronic vulnerability - building on the success of our campaigning in this area and our ability to influence key policy makers.

HIV and AIDS - in particular how we incorporate this crucial cross-cutting theme into all our work.

Climate Change - an area of growing concern and momentum both in the UK and across CARE.

We will continue to support fundraising and communication initiatives in the following areas, linking with sector leaders in other parts of CARE when more technical expertise is required:

This includes: Education, especially girls’ education and psycho-social care for orphans and vulnerable children, water and sanitation, and health.

Our Strategic Roles:

We will align our resources and work according to the following strategic roles and objectives which make best use of our expertise and position in the UK.

Programme Quality: enhancing the quality and impact of CARE’s programmes from start to finish. We will use our thematic expertise to work with our field operations to improve the quality of our programmes worldwide. We will demonstrate innovation and excellence in programmes that address the underlying causes of poverty sustainably.

Influencing Policy: changing the way that governments, business and others impact on poverty. We recognise that we cannot fight poverty alone. We will engage with policy makers and others to address the barriers to fighting poverty at the policy level. We will be recognised as a credible commentator and player amongst our peers, partners and stakeholders.

New Funds and Resources: raising funds and resources that enable us to make a long term more impact on poverty. We will develop a new approach to funding and become less dependent on institutional income. We will source more flexible funds, including more private and general funds to enable us to invest in developing high quality programmes. And we will increase our emergency response fund to enable us to response quicker to the growing number of emergencies.

Profile and Awareness: raising CARE's profile and UK public's awareness of global poverty issues. We know that we need to increase our profile in order to be recognised as a credible source of information by policy makers, the UK public and opinion formers. We will aim to be known as experts in our areas of focus and we will also work with our peers and partners to raise the public’s awareness of global poverty issues.

CARE globally: proactively contributing to the CARE confederation. We will be recognised for our expertise within CARE in the area of conflict and peace building and we will be an integral part of CARE’s emergency response team. We will support the confederation to be more representative of its constituency.

Become a more efficient and effective organisation. To support the delivery of our plan, we will have an effective and skilled workforce, efficient and appropriate level of overheads, and above all we will be achieving high levels of donor accountability, compliance and reporting.